Arizona honey: Where to find locally made varieties

by Roger Naylor - Jan. 27, 2012 02:23 PMThe Republic | azcentral.com

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. One exception: honey.

Honey is nature's little miracle, boasting an extensive list of health benefits. Honey offers antiseptic, antioxidant and cleansing properties for our bodies, and it can be used to treat everything from conjunctivitis to athlete's foot to sore throats. It's good for skin care and has been used since ancient times to heal wounds and burns. But not all honey is alike.

Most honey at the grocery store has been pasteurized and highly filtered. The process creates a smooth, clean substance with shelf appeal, but it partially destroys the yeast and enzymes responsible for activating vitamins and minerals in the body. Raw honey looks milkier than store-bought. It contain flecks of bee-collected pollen and bits of honeycomb, but all of its nutritional properties are intact.

Many people believe that eating local honey relieves allergies by working much the same way as allergy shots. In the pollen, you're ingesting small doses of the flowers you're allergic to, allowing you to build up immunity. That gives you the sweetest reason to seek out Arizona honey.

Bisbee: Killer Bee Guy Store

Removing hives of Africanized bees is a dangerous job, but Reed Booth doesn't do it for the money. He does it for the honey. It's how he gathers the goods that he sells in his tiny store in Bisbee.

Booth, better known as the Killer Bee Guy, accidentally stumbled into this curious career more than 20 years ago. He was a home brewer who made mead, or honey wine. He was given a gunny sack of bees by a friend and began a self-education process. Pretty soon, he was removing killer-bee hives for neighbors, and word spread.

Today, he does most of the killer-bee removal for Cochise County. He takes payment in honey -- about 20,000 pounds a year -- and relocates the bees whenever possible. It's the kind of job that draws attention. Booth has been featured on the History Channel, Discovery Channel and Food Network, and he is hammering out details for a series on Spike TV.

The mustards are all natural, with flavors ranging from roasted garlic to chipotle to a radical raspberry, perfect for grilling or marinades. Over the past eight years, Booth has entered his concoctions in the World-Wide Mustard Competition in Napa, Calif., and won seven medals.

But the killer-bee honey is Booth's biggest seller.

"It's something everyone should try," he says. "It's good for your stinger."

Pine: The Honey Stand

The Honey Stand, which has deep roots in the small community of Pine, sits on land owned by the Fuller family since 1885.

In 1980, a beekeeper was given permission to sell his honey from roadside tables. Robert and Jeanne Fuller took over the business 15 years later and moved it inside an old building on the property. They expanded the inventory to include jams and jellies, butters, salsas, sauces and more, but they still focus on honey.

The Fullers have no hives but work with beekeepers around the state. They carry eight kinds of raw Arizona honey, ranging from a light, aromatic citrus to a darker pecan, which has a robust flavor and molasseslike quality. In addition to raw honey, they sell whipped, flavored honeys. Free samples are available.

Rimrock: Verde Valley Honey

When Steve Simmons isn't helping to bring stranded hikers back to safety, he tends to his beehives. Simmons works with the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office search-and-rescue team. Compared with that type of stressful uncertainty, the bees must be a soothing counterpoint.

Simmons maintains 75 hives in mesquite groves along the Verde River. Free samples of his flavorful mesquite honey, along with desert-wildflower honey gathered from hives along the Gila River, are available in the store. The Rimrock store is east of Interstate 17 on the road to Montezuma Well, north of Camp Verde. It is reached via Exit 293 at McQuireville.

The mesquite and wildflower honeys are raw, going straight from the collection barrels into bottles. Bee pollen and honeycombs, an old-time treat for those who recall neighborhood beekeepers, are also sold. Simmons also displays the work of 24 local artists; everything from furniture to jewelry fills the colorful space. Continuing with the local-first theme, the shop has sauces, marinades, condiments and foods produced organically by Terra Verde Farms in Rimrock.

Flagstaff: Mountain Top Honey

Have stinger, will travel. Right now, Dennis Arp's bees are relaxing -- as much as bees relax -- near Fort McDowell, in the northeast Valley. In February, they'll be loaded onto a truck and head for California to pollinate almond trees.

Then it'll be back to the Valley and the Mesa citrus crop; to Black Canyon City for mesquite blossoms; to the high country of Winslow and Joseph City for camelthorn; and, finally, the wildflower-laden meadows surrounding Mormon Lake in mid-October.

What started out as a beekeeping hobby has grown into a statewide business. Arp keeps 900 to 1,200 hives, and Mountain Top produces 150,000 pounds of the sweet stuff annually. The brand can be found in stores in the Valley and places around the state, including New Frontiers in Flagstaff, Sedona and Prescott.

The year-round honey flow is made possible by Arizona's patchwork of climate zones. Each batch has a slightly different texture and taste, depending on the predominant bloom.

Regarding the travel, bees are pretty adaptable.

"They realize pretty quickly they're someplace different," Arp says. "Each hive will send out an orientation flight, and usually pollen is being brought in later that same day."

Reed Booth, owner of the Killer Bee Guy Store in Bisbee, does killer-bee removal in Cochise County. He moves the hives to a safe location when possible.

More on this topic

Where to find Arizona honey in Phoenix

Absolutely Delightful has been representing Arizona beekeepers for nearly a decade and sells their goods at farmers markets in Phoenix. The organization represents four beekeepers and has visited their operations in Lake Pleasant, Wickenburg, Fountain Hills, Buckeye and beyond.

Absolutely Delightful carries three types of desert-wildflower honey, as well as mesquite, catclaw, alfalfa and a limited supply of camelthorn honey. Find Absolutely Delightful at these locations: